“Alisha Wheeler is your sister’s name, is it not?” Caroline didn’t back down. She stood her ground staring directly at Jax who had finally dropped the finger he had pointed at her. When he didn’t answer, she sighed. “I’m not a liar, Jax Wheeler, but your sister wants you to help Jill.”
Jax stared at Caroline for what seemed like forever. Finally, he looked away to focus on Jill then back to Caroline. “Don’t ever mention her name to me again.” With that, he walked out, slamming the door so hard it broke off the hinges and would have hit Caroline if Sloan hadn’t pulled her out of the way.
Chapter 6
Slade smiled as he left Duncan and Pam’s room after giving little Daniel his check-up. Seeing the badass Warrior, Duncan, pacing nervously was definitely a sight to see. Daniel was doing fine and growing normally, as any other eight-month-old child would grow. Slade had been worried at first that Daniel would have an accelerated growth, but that wasn’t the case. It puzzled him a great deal, but it was something he hadn’t been able to figure out yet, just as he hadn’t been able to figure out a lot of issues lately, namely Jill and his feelings toward her. Passing her room, he stopped, knowing she was in there, and the urge to knock on her door was overwhelming to the point he had to force himself to leave. It was a fight he was having with himself constantly. Hearing a loud bang come from her room, he turned around taking two steps back to her door, knocking loudly. He was ready to knock again after a few seconds before it opened.
“You okay?” he asked, looking over her head into her room.
“Yeah,” she replied with a small nod.
Slade spotted the Driver’s Handbook laying on the floor next to the door and immediately knew what the bang was he heard. Picking it up, he opened it to the question and answer page. “Unless posted, what is the speed limit in a residential area?” When Jill remained silent, Slade turned to look at her. “Jill?”
She stared at the book as if it was the devil himself. “Slow?” she replied, then frowned when he grinned. “I’m not stupid,” she hissed.
“I didn’t say you were,” he shot back, feeling bad for grinning, but her answer was cute. “Slow is good, but would it be 35, 25…”
“I don’t know.” Jill walked to her bed, plopping down with a sigh. “This is such a waste of time. Even if I somehow pass, there is no way they are going to give a license to someone who is dyslexic. I can’t even read the signs right.”
Slade sat down in a roll away chair next to a small desk. Putting both elbows on his knees, he leaned toward her. “So the woman who is going to go into a Gentlemen’s Club to dance is giving up on something as simple as this?” He held up the book.
“Simple for you.” Jill’s eyes were almost pleading with him to help her. “Impossible for me. Why can’t I just drive? I mean, if I practice driving, I’ll be fine.”
“Because it’s against the law.” Slade cocked his eyebrow at her, and then sighed at her defeated look. “Listen, I don’t know a lot about dyslexia, but I’ve done some research and I’m going to help you. You will pass the test.”
“Why?” Jill’s voice held the same shock her eyes relayed.
“Because I’m going to help you pass,” Slade replied, not exactly understanding what she was asking. He stretched his legs out trying to get comfortable in the little chair, but it was no use. The chair wasn’t made for his large frame. Standing up, he walked toward the bed. “Scoot over.”
Jill did, still looking at him as he sat on her bed, leaning against the bedframe. “No, I meant why did you research dyslexia?”
Slade was looking through the book to see where to start when she questioned him. Looking up, his eyes met hers and he felt a protective need to grab her, just to let her know she wasn’t alone. If he didn’t know anything at all about her and her past with her family, he could still read the loneliness in her eyes and it hit him hard. He was attracted to her in ways that he had never been attracted to another woman, but he wasn’t ready to admit that to anyone, even to himself.
“I was bored,” his reply was serious, but his wink told another story. When she smiled, he felt as if he could conquer anything. Her smile was womanly with a mix of innocence and the innocence was what scared the hell out of him. He was way too jaded to do innocent. Shaking his head, he picked up the book. “Time’s running out. If we get this tonight, you can do your written test tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Jill moved and sat cross-legged on the end of the bed, facing Slade.
“Yeah, tomorrow.” Slade started to say more, but Jill’s door flew open and had him on alert.
“Hey you don’t have to take that test.” Steve burst into her room then stopped, his eyes widening at seeing Slade on her bed. “Ah, damn, my bad. I didn’t know you guys were…well, you know.” He turned around quickly.
“Slade is helping me study for the driving test.” Jill rolled her eyes at Steve, who turned to peek over his shoulder.
“Oh, well ah…” Steve turned back around, his eyes going back and forth between the two.